OSAKA
Japan said Monday it will provide a radar system and unmanned aircraft to the Philippine military under its security aid framework for like-minded partners, amid China’s maritime assertiveness in regional waters, local media reported.
The 4.3 billion yen ($27 million) agreement was signed by Philippine Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro and Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Katsuro Kitagawa in Manila, Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.
The agreement also includes the provision of unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance missions to the Philippine Air Force.
The provision of a coastal radar system to the Philippine Navy under Tokyo’s 2023 Official Security Assistance (OSA) program will mark the first transfer of completed Japanese-made defense equipment under the framework to a like-minded foreign country, Kyodo News reported.
The project is of “great importance in further promoting security cooperation between Japan and the Philippines, enhancing security of important sea lanes for Japan, and contributing to maintaining and strengthening regional peace and stability,” Japan’s Foreign Ministry said.
Tokyo and Manila have deepened bilateral security cooperation in recent years, with the two US allies in Asia sharing concerns over China’s growing military activities in the Indo-Pacific.
China claims the Japan-controlled, uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and remains locked in territorial disputes in the South China Sea with the Philippines and other countries.
